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(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in any Act for the time being in force, a person shall be disqualified for being a member of any statutory body if he has contested the election for local authority, Co-operative Society or any statutory body on the seat reserved for any of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis) Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category by procuring a false Caste Certificate as belonging to such Caste, Tribe or Class on such false Caste Certificate, and any benefits obtained by such person shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue and the election of such person shall be deemed to have been terminated retrospectively.

The Legislature has created offences in Section 11 and provided penalties. Section 11 provides as follows :

11. (1) Whoever
(a) obtains a false Caste Certificate by furnishing false information or filing false statement or documents or by any other fraudulent means; or
(b) not being a person belonging to any of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis) Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category secures any benefits or appointments exclusively reserved for such Castes, Tribes or Classes in the Government, Local authority or any other company or corporation owned controlled by the Government or in any Government aided institution, or secures admission in any educational institution against a seat exclusively reserved for such Castes, Tribes or Classes or is elected to any of the elective offices of any local authority or Co-operative Society against the office reserved for such Castes, Tribes or Classes by producing a false Caste Certificate; shall, on conviction, be punished, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extent upto two years or with fine which shall not be less than two thousand rupees, but which may extend upto twenty thousand rupees or both.

(2) No court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this section except upon a compliant, in writing, made by the Scrutiny Committee or by any other officer duly authorised by the Scrutiny Committee for this purpose.

The provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 10 inter alia are to the effect that where a person who does not belong to a reserved category secures admission in an educational institution against a reserved seat by producing a false Caste Certificate, he or she shall, on cancellation of the Caste Certificate by the Scrutiny Committee, be liable to be debarred from the educational institution. Similarly, where employment has been secured in the Government, a local authority, a Company owned or controlled by Government, in a Government aided institution or a Co-operative Society against a reserved post, on a false Caste Certificate, such a person is liable to be discharged and any other benefits enjoyed or derived shall be withdrawn forthwith. Similarly, any other benefits enjoyed or derived by virtue of admission to an educational institution shall be withdrawn forthwith. By subsection (2), an amount paid by way of scholarship, grant or allowance or other financial benefit shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue. Sub-section (3) of Section 10 begins with a non-obstante provision and lays down that any degree, diploma or other educational qualification acquired by a person after securing admission to an educational institution on the basis of a Caste Certificate which is subsequently proved to be false shall also stand cancelled.

8. The Legislature has stepped in and enunciated as a matter of high public policy, a statutory provision for the invalidation of all benefits which have been obtained on the basis of a false caste claim to belong to a reserved category. Where a person has been employed on the basis of a false caste claim, the Legislature has provided for discharge from employment. Where a person has been admitted to an educational institution on the basis of a false claim, the Legislature has provided for invalidation of the admission. The Legislature has in Sub-section (3) of Section 10 gone further by enacting that the degree, diploma or any other educational qualification shall also stand cancelled on the cancellation of the Caste Certificate. An electoral disqualification has been enacted in sub-section 4. These stringent provisions have been enacted by the Legislature in public interest in order to ensure that the benefits which are created for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other reserved categories are truly made available only to those persons who belong to the communities and tribes for whom the reservation exists. There is a tendency for imposters to claim the benefit of reservation by feigning to belong to a reserved community. Once admitted to an educational institution, every effort is made to continue in the educational institution often by recourse to dilatory tactics and over a period of time, a plea is made for the protection of the admission since by the passage of time, the student may have pursued the course of studies even to the conclusion. The Court has often times stepped in to protect admission on equitable considerations particularly having regard to the fact that the student may have substantially completed the course of studies or may have secured a degree on the basis of admission. The balance between the equitable consideration of protecting the interest of a student who has pursued his education and the public interest in protecting the reserved categories against the usurpation of their constitutional entitlements by imposters has now been made by the State Legislature. The Court in the exercise of the power of judicial review has due deference to legislative policy. The Court does not prescribe legislative policy nor does it enact law. The Court must assume that the legislature is cognisant of the needs and welfare of society. The legislature was also cognisant of the outlays publicly made on education and the investment made by the State in equipping students to become doctors, engineers and other professionals. The Legislature has expressly stipulated that a degree or diploma obtained on the basis of a caste claim which is invalidated shall stand cancelled. In the face of an express legislative provision, this Court shall not be justified in exercising its equitable jurisdiction. Considerations of equity that guide the Court in constitutional adjudication under Article 226 of the Constitution must be in accordance with the law enacted by the Legislature. So long as the law continues to be valid, the High Court would not be justified in issuing directions which run contrary to the plain intendment of the Legislature. It is the constitutional duty and obligation of this Court to give a purposive meaning and interpretation to the provisions of the enactment made by the State Legislature in 2000. Stringent provisions have been made to protect the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other reserved categories. To dilute those provisions by importing equitable considerations for a candidate who has usurped benefits would be to defeat the law. The legislation was in this case conceived in the interests of protecting the constitutional scheme of reservations from usurpation by those who are not entitled. It is the plain duty of the constitutional Court to enforce the law. The doctrine of the separation of powers in a democracy demands no less.